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Mr Buckingham just returned from a "frack finding" tour of the United States and said the industry has left behind a legacy of polluted water and rivers.

"It is clear this is a dangerous industry," said Mr Buckingham.

He said five Liberal members of the NSW lower house crossed the floor in a conscience vote against CSG this week.

"The National Party needs to stand up for communities in their electorates," said Mr Buckingham.

He said people living in areas where the industry has been proposed do not want CSG wells and this is the reason why the protest movement is gaining momentum.

He described the National Party's position as burying their heads in the sand.

"Metgasco must be terrified you people are here," said Mr Buckingham as the crowd of about 40 people cheered.

Jeremy King

Jeremy King who lives about 500 metres from the test drilling site on The Avenue, Glenugie was at the protest site.

Mr King has lived on his bush block for 14 years and chose the area because he read the Clarence had two of the cleanest waterways in the country.

About a year ago he saw Lock the Gate signs starting to appear on the roads to his house.

He initially approached the movement with scepticism and questions about the scientific evidence on the environmental impacts of CSG.

He has since arrived at the conclusion he does not want gas wells near his home.

"This is the last spot on the north coast not buried under concrete," Mr King said.

"In summer people from up north come to this area because it is a beautiful place and we don't need to ruin it."

Mr King's property is adjacent to a creek downhill from where Metgasco is currently doing a core test.

He is worried if wells go in he is right in the line for any run off from the site.

He runs a small mob of cattle on his land and takes the occasional log to small local mills for sustainable timber, an income stream he says is endangered by CSG development.

"I am really disappointed with our local Member Chris Gulaptis, if Steve Cansdell was still there he would have come down here to hear our concerns," Mr King said.

"After all this is a community issue."

Mr King said he went to member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis' office and was told the rights to CSG had been signed away by the previous Labor Government and to change what was happening would not be possible.

Barry Fletcher

Barry Fletcher lives about one and a half kilometres north east of the Glenugie test site.

"We moved here 27 years ago to get away from town and because it is a good place for us to grow tea trees," he said.

"It was our ideal to live in a bush area with lots of flora and fauna, also it was a good place to raise our three daughters."

Mr Fletcher is virulently opposed to having the area he lives in developed for the purpose of CSG.

He said he is worried it will destroy his farming income and the native environment which were the main reasons he moved to the area to begin with.

Clarification: Boudicca Cerese was at the site during the week to support the local community and participate in the protest, not to organise it as previously reported.